This invention relates to a foundation system for manufactured housing, and more particularly to a modular wooden foundation wall and pier design on which mobile and manufactured housing units can be readily placed, to simply and easily form a below grade foundation creating a frost-free basement area underneath a manufactured housing unit.
Manufactured housing has become very cost effective when compared with conventional homes because it is made in a factory where high-productivity, mass-production techniques can be employed. Foundations, however, still form a major obstacle, both in time and cost, and as a consequence many mobile manufactured homes are set above grade with at best a wind skirt around the periphery to at least partially enclose the space between the unit and the ground. This above grade placement has saved considerable time and cost in the placement of the unit, but the heating problems of such an installation, particularly in the northern climates have become so severe as to require an insulated basement area. To place a manufactured unit on a conventional foundation results in much of the convenience and cost of the modular unit being dissipated in the construction of the foundation. This is particularly so in conventional foundations where the unit has to be placed by use of a crane and applies equally to mobile and modular units.
As used herein, "mobile" applies to units that have built on longitudinal beams or trusses which can have wheels mounted thereon for over-the-road transport. "Modular" is defined to refer to a manufactured unit adapted to be mounted on a foundation in which more conventional floor joists are placed within an outer frame. The road transportation must be accomplished on special trailers that will adequately support the unit especially in the longitudinal direction against the stresses of such movement.